chapter 13 the exam

"Junpei, come down, it's time for you to go!" my mom yelled.

This is the day of the U.A. entrance exams. I stepped down to see my family grinning at me.

"Congratulations, son," both my parents said. "Today is the day you take a step to become a hero," my father added.

"Thank you. Now go, son, you don't want to be late. Akari and Izuku are waiting for you," my mom said.

"Alright then," I replied. I stepped out of the house and saw Akari waiting for me.

"Where is Izuku?" I asked, confused.

"Well, he was too excited, so he left early," Akari chuckled. "Let's go."

We started walking towards U.A. When we reached the campus, we saw a bunch of students heading towards the huge building. That's when we spotted Izuku talking to a girl I recognized as Ochaco Uraraka.

"Izuku!" Akari called out.

"Oh hey, guys! Who are you talking to?" Izuku responded.

"Hello there, my name is Ochaco Uraraka," the girl introduced herself.

"Did the three of you know each other before this. she asked.

"Yeah, we're childhood friends," I said.

"What the hell are you doing here, Deku?" It was Bakugo. "Why are you even bothering coming here? You'll never pass the exam." After spouting his usual negativity, he walked away.

"What's his problem? Do you guys know him or something?" Ochaco asked.

"Yes, he's another childhood friend," Akari explained.

"So is your name Deku or something?" Ochaco asked.

"No, Deku is an insult he came up with," Izuku said.

"Not to me. Deku sounds like a cute hero name," Ochaco said with a smile.

"Deku it is," Izuku said, blushing.

Akari and I looked at him, exchanging amused glances. "What a simp," we both thought.

"We should seriously go inside. The test will start any minute," I said, walking towards the building.

The first test began: the written exam.

Izuku POV

After finishing the exam, we went to a lecture-like room where we saw the hero Present Mic. He explained the second exam and how much the robots would give us in points. I was really nervous, so to distract myself, I started thinking about the best quirks suited for the exam. Suddenly, a boy in the class started complaining loudly about what Present Mic was saying. He turned towards me.

"Your muttering is distracting everyone!" he snapped.

I was startled. "Sorry," I mumbled.

A few of the examinees around me chuckled, causing my face to turn red. Soon, we were all directed to our respective exam areas. Junpei and Akari were assigned to different zones than mine. I felt a bit disappointed until I saw that Ochaco was in the same area.

"Izuku, over here!" Ochaco called out.

"Oh, it's you, Ochaco," I replied. "Why are you nervous?"

"Well, this is the UA exam. I've been dreaming ever since I was a kid that I would become a hero. And now I'm here, at the exam that will decide if my dreams come true or die."

"Oh wow, this is way more intense for you than I thought," Ochaco said sympathetically.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just dumped all that on you," I apologized.

"No, it's okay. It's actually—"

"Hey, you two, stop flirting! People are trying to focus on the exam!" It was the boy with glasses again.

This ticked me off. "Hey, you, I don't know what goes on in your head, but we are not flirting. We were just talking to ease our anxiety about the exam," I snapped back.

The glasses guy was stunned but quickly recovered. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I honestly thought you two were just goofing off while everyone else was serious, and it made me a little mad."

I was taken aback by his apology. "No, it's okay. I probably would have done the same. Oh, by the way, my name is Izuku Midoriya, and she is Ochaco Uraraka."

"Nice to meet you. My name is Tenya Iida. Your name sounds familiar somehow," he said.

"You're probably imagining things," Iida replied. "Are you sure—"

Present Mic started talking again. "Alright everyone, the doors are open. The second exam begins now!"

The doors swung open, revealing a sprawling urban battlefield dotted with towering buildings and scattered debris. Iida's serious demeanor shifted as he looked around, analyzing the terrain. Ochaco gave me an encouraging nod, and I tried to focus on the task ahead. The tension in the air was palpable as we moved to our starting positions.

"Remember, no countdowns in real battles! GO!" Present Mic's voice boomed through the speakers.

I started running towards the nearest robot, using my power to punch it. The robot shattered from the impact. Thanks to the training I've done since I was a kid, I can at least use this amount of power. Izuku doesn't notice this because he hasn't developed the percentage system yet, but he used about 1% of One for All. Even though his arm isn't broken, it hurts a lot. I thought about what All Might told me back then: If you were never in this shape, me giving you One for All would have blown up your limbs. The thought gave me chills. I seriously have Junpei to thank for this.

I continued running around, destroying more robots until I noticed a purple-haired guy struggling against one. It looked like he couldn't use his Quirk. As the robot prepared to strike, I jumped towards him and punched it away.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

The purple-haired guy, Shinzo, looked surprised. "Oh, it's okay. Is there a problem?"

"It looked like you couldn't use your Quirk."

"Yeah, my Quirk doesn't work on robots. This stupid exam is unfair It's prefers those who have Quirks more suited for fighting."

"Yeah, maybe you're right, but that's no excuse to give up here. You came here to become a hero, and a hero doesn't always have the advantage. Look, you might not believe me, but I would have never been able to pass this exam before. But that never stopped me from training for this day."

Shinzo wanted to retort that someone with his Quirk would never understand, but when he looked into my eyes, he saw that I was telling the truth. He was absolutely surprised and wanted to continue the conversation, but then BOOM! A loud explosion echoed through the area. We saw a large robot—it was the zero-pointer. All the examinees started running away, and we were about to run too until we heard a scream. It was Ochaco.

Once I realized it was her, I ran towards her. "What are you doing?" Shinzo screamed.

"I'm going to help!" I replied.

He sighed. "Well, I guess I have to help too."

I shouted at the examinees who were running away. "Most of you, keep running, but three of you, stay!" One guy had a tail, another had tentacles for arms, and the third had engines in his legs. "Tail guy, tentacle guy, go rescue the other examinees. Engine guy, go rescue those who are injured."

Iida started running towards Ochaco. I jumped and punched the giant robot, but the force broke my legs and arm. Iida, who had rescued Ochaco, ran towards the building, jumped towards the wall, and then jumped again, nearing me. Ochaco used her Quirk to stop my fall.

"Thanks, Iida. If it wasn't for you, I would have died," I said.

Iida snapped out of it. "What's going on? Iida, are you okay?"

He turned to me, confused. "Izuku, what happened to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're just... different. I don't remember anything that happened."

"That's weird. Could something have happened?"

We heard a loud bell. The test was over.